During the middle 10 days of May, I became one of about 2.5 million people expected to visit Israel during this millennial year. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism invited five Baptist state paper editors to experience the Holy Land firsthand, and I had the privilege of being included on the list. It had been 27 years since my first trip. I was eager to see some of the sacred places again and anxious to see the changes of the past three decades.
My first trip taught me that a Christian pilgrim in Israel does not “walk where Jesus walked.” During the past 2,000 years churches have been built over most of the traditional sites associated with the ministry of Jesus. For most Baptists, gazing at a marble shrine or an alabaster altar does not have the same effect as seeing a sight in the naturalness of Jesus’ day.
Still, the experience of the Holy Land is unmatched by anything else I have experienced in travel. There is something indescribable about being in the land of our Lord.
Today it is possible to glimpse more of Israel as it was in the day of Jesus than one could in 1973. The Ophel Archaeological Gardens in Jerusalem have uncovered the major street that ran along the base of the western wall of the Temple Mount. Along its side are the remains of small stores that were doubtlessly used to sell the sacrifices and other necessities for worship at the Temple.
It is a street that Jesus would have walked. The stores are places His family or disciples may have shopped.
On the south side of the wall, archaeologists uncovered steps of a huge staircase. Originally, the steps led through a triple gate to stairs unto the Temple Mount. More than 1,000 years ago the gates were sealed with stones, but the steps are visible again. One can climb the steps and stand at the base of a gate that Jesus probably used when He came to Jerusalem for temple worship.
Outside the walls of Old Jerusalem is the Garden Tomb. Occasionally someone tries to make a case for its being the real place of Jesus’ burial. Most scholars reject that argument. The current walls of the city were constructed by the Turks during the Ottoman Empire. There have been at least four sets of walls around Jerusalem. At the time of Jesus, the traditional crucifixion site, The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was outside the city walls even though the church is now inside the walls.
While the Garden Tomb may not be the actual place, it is more akin to what the place was like in Jesus’ day than the numerous chapels and competing Christian religions that occupy the traditional location.
The Bible says the tomb where Jesus was laid was in a garden. Because Israel is an arid land, the garden would have been a functional place, probably an olive tree garden or a grape vineyard. It would have had a cistern to store water for the long, hot, arid days of summer.
The Garden Tomb is such a place. It is run by an evangelical association that depends on freewill offerings. No admission charge is assessed. Every visitor sees the trees of the garden, sees the water cistern, views a tomb chiseled out of a rock cliff and a rock rail that guided a circular stone about four inches thick and five feet in diameter in front of the opening.
What one sees as the burial site is a real cave in a real garden. Not a freestanding marble chapel inside a cathedral-like structure. Only about one out of 10 visitors to Israel visits the Garden Tomb, about 250,000 annually. Each one of the visitors hears a personal testimony about faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.
On the Sea of Galilee is another display of Jesus’ day. It is an ancient boat that has been dubbed “the Jesus boat.” Only this year did it go on display even though it was discovered in 1986. It is displayed at the Yigal Allon Center just north of Tiberius.
The boat was discovered in the mud of the Sea of Galilee during a severe drought. It was carefully preserved because it provides a glimpse into the kind of boat Jesus and His disciples probably used. The remains are 26 and a half feet long, seven and a half feet wide. It could hold up to 15 people and could move under a single square sail or from two sets of oars. Normally the boat would have been operated by four or five people — a helmsman and oarsmen.
Just looking at the boat propels the mind back to scenes of the disciples fishing on the sea and of Jesus, asleep in the stern while the disciples fought a sudden storm so common in the Galilee during the winter months.
One of the more unusual places now available to visit is the Biblical Landscape Reserve. There the goal is to restore the land to what it was like at the time of Jesus so visitors can see what the land looked like 2,000 years ago and earlier.
Much of Israel is hilly. Terracing was common. Trees were planted on the terrace and grain grown around the trees. Large, flat plots were almost unheard of except in the Jezreel Valley. When the terraces broke down through neglect or strife, the soil washed into the valleys leaving barren, rocky hillsides visible today.
The Reserve restored the land, trucking soil from the valley to the hillsides. Now ancient farming methods are demonstrated. Farm animals of that era and other animals of Scripture are displayed. Food preparation techniques from long ago can be seen. Even biblical–style meals are available. It is almost like stepping back in time. It really is like what Jesus saw, how He lived and how He ate.
I am glad I made the trip. Parts of it were inspirational, like the spontaneous worship service the five of us conducted Sunday afternoon at the site of the Sermon on the Mount. All of it was informative. Practically everywhere one looked, there was Bible history before one’s eyes.
In coming weeks, selected sites from the trip will be featured in The Alabama Baptist. We also will share stories about Baptist work in Israel since we were able to meet with Baptist representatives on two occasions. If you visit Israel, I hope you will enjoy the experience as much as I did.
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